Railway-rail joint



(No Moda.)

4 WWAMA W. F. GOULD.' RAILWAY RAIL JOINT.A

Patented Sept. 25, 1883.

n l Y WvQ/VM 1 f lJly made of cast-steel.

NITED vSTATES VIENT rrrcn.

WILLIAM n. conm), on srUARr, Iowa.

RAILWAY-RAM., JOINT.

EPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 255,406, dated September 25, 1883,

Application tiled October 52S, lrl.

To cL-Z whom it may concern/.-

Be it known that l., WILLIAM F. GoULD, of Stuart, in the county of Guthrie and Stateof Iowa, have invented an improved Railway- Rail Joint, of which the following is a speciiication.

The object of my invention is, first, to facilitate the connecting of the ends of two rails and the laying of a track; second, to prevent the wearing of the ends of rails incident to the unevenness of abutting ends vin a track and their independent vibrations under the pressure of passing wheels and trains of cars and the pounding or undue compression resulting therefrom, third, to prevent the loosening of common nuts on common screws or screw-threaded shanks of clamping-irons. I accomplish the results contemplated by forming and combining a coupling-plate, an elastic coupling-plate, a clamping device, and an elastic cushion with track-rails and cross-ties, as hereinafter fully'set forth.

Fi gurel of my accompanying drawings is a perspective view of one of my coupling-plates. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of my elastic coupling-plate. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of my clamping device. rail-joint in which the ends of my couplingplates rest `upon parallel cross-ties, and the clamp is applied between the same ties. Fig. 5 is a top view of a `joint in which the T-head of one of the rails is removed. Fig. 6 is a transverse section of a joint in which the coupling-plate iianges extend outward on opposite sides of the shank of the clamp to rest on parallel cross-ties. of a joint in which the rigid coupling-plate, angc, or base-plate extends inward under the bottoms of the abutting ends of the rails to rest upon and form a bridge between two parallel cross-ties. Fig. 8 is a transverse section of a joint in which two of my elastic couplingplates are placed on opposite sides of rails, and spiked upon the top surface of a crosstie,vand bolted to the vertical portions and sides ofthe T-rails. .Iointly considered, these iigures clearly illustrate the construction and operation of my complete invention.

a is the body of my coupling-plate, prefera- Its inner face, b, is lat and designed to iit against the straight 'ldes of the abutting ends oi' the rails. Its

Fig. i is a perspective of a Fig. 7 is a transversesection (No modrl.)

lower portion, c, is curved outward and conforms in shape with the lateral extension and base of a rail, as required. to engage and cover the edges ofthe base of a rail. Y

c' is a ilange extending 'outward fr'oiu the base of the body a b c, to engage and rest upon a cross-tie, as clearly shown in Figs. 4, 5, and G.

c is a base-plate extending inward from the iianges cand inthe same plane therewith, to adapt the complete coupling-plate to serve as a chair, and also as a fish-plate, as clearly shown in Fig. 7.

d is a perforated' lug or ear, that extends downward at right angles from the outside and center of the complete device to receive the end of my clamping device.

d is an opening in the horizontal flange c', to admit a nut to be placed on the ends ofthe screw-threaded shank ofthe clamp, as clearly shown in Figs. -1 and 6.

f is my elastic coupling-plate, in the form of a spring, that is made by doubling the end of a Vsteel plate so that the doubled portion will be of U shape in its cross-section. The opposite end of the plate is bent to conform with the top surface of the lateral extension of the base of the rail. f' is a cavity formed inthe center of the lower edge and horizontal portion of the spring and plate to admit my clamping device, as clearly shown in Figs- 2, `G, and 7. f are perforations in the plate, that adapt it to be fastened on top of the cross-ties, as clearly shown in Fig. 8. In place of bending the top of the elastic coupling-plate inward it may be turned outward, as shown in Fig. 7.

g is a nat-faced cross-head orT end on a clamping-hook, h, that has a screw-threaded shank, i. The horizontalportion or body of the hook has a fiat and widened to'p surface, adapting it to engage the iat bottoms of rails, and to form a support for the two abutting ends of the rails that overlap it when the baseplate c of my rigid coupling-plate is omitted, as shown in Fig. 6.

To form a rail-joint, and to secure and maintain continuity in the top surface of a track, and to prevent the springing and vibrating of the ends of the rails when under pressure of passing trains and the damages incident thereto, I place two cross-ties in parallel position IOO under the abutting ends of two rails and close l joint lthereby impaired and enough together to allow the` ends of my rigid coupling-plate to rest upon the cross-ties, and

also upon the lateral extensions and base portions of the rails. I then plaee one of my elas tie coupling-plates on the opposite side of the abutting ends ofthe rails, and the T' end of my clamp against the outside face of the elastic plate, and the soie\\f-threaded shank; of the clamp under the rails and through the perforated ear of the rigid'coupling-plate to receive a nut, and when all. the parts are thus arranged and combined I simply operate the nut to draw' the coupling-plates on the opposite sides of the rails toward each other and elose against the sides ofthe rails, so that the eonpling-plates will be wedged firmly between the under faces ol" the T-heads of the rails and the inclined top surfaces of the webs or lateral extensions of the base of each rail,y to prevent any vertical movement of either of the abutting ends ofthe rails, and also any lateral movement of the same ends without interiering with the longif tudinal contraetion and expansion of the rails and complete track, as occurs when transverse bolts and longitudinal wedges are used in a joint; and in thus clamping the parts together the spring ofthe elastic coupling-plate is eompressed, anda force stored that will constantly be exerted against the nut to prevent the nut and clamp from becoming loose and the iirmness and cohesion of' the parts relaxed, and the the even top surface of the traek broken.

To re-enforce the spring in my elastic eoupling-plate, I insert a rubber block, 7c, or suitable oushioning material in the doubled porthe tie by means of spikes, and then draw thei r upper portions together to compress them the continuity of against the rails bymeans oi' transverse screw f bolts, as elearly shown in Fig. 8.

I claim as my inventionl. In a railway-track, the combination ol' the Coupling-plate a b c el, the elastic coupling-plate ff', the clamp f/ h fi, two abutting rails, and two parallel cross-ties, substantially as shown and described, for the purposes speel' fied.

2. In a railway-track, the Combination oi' a couplingplate, a I) c d, an elastie couplingplate, fj", a clamp, g It i, an elastic block, lu, two abutting rails, and two cross-ties, substantially as shown and described, for the purposes specified.

IILLIAM' l?. COULD. Wi tnesses:

' WILKiNs W .lnwioig lHoMiis G. Onwio. 

